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It drives me crazy when I hear people can't afford ________what ever. Where are your priorities people? Usually (and I know I'm generalizing hear) but the people that say they can't afford it are typically the ones who have an iphone, or crackberry, with some sort of data plan, or go out drinking on weekends, or go on vacations at least once a year they also typically have a flat panel tv, surround sound etc etc. That shit is important but snow tires aren't? I mean Jesus! I bought used snows on steelies 14" last year for my e30 that looked almost new for $250. I put 20,000km on them and they still look new. Lose your fancy gadgets and don't go out for 3 weeks and there are your snow tires!
It doesn't matter that you can go through a winter without. That's not the point. It's there so that if and when (god forbid) you get thrown into an emergency manoeuver that you're more likely to come out unscathed than if you had less grip ie all seasons. And yes I do agree with Fil, in the respect that you have to remember the people you may hit as result of your negligence might be me and my family!

On another topic, something that no one has touched on yet is the ineffectiveness of all seasons on dry pavement that is below 7 degrees celsius. You don't need snow to feel the benefits of snow tires, or the weaknesses of all seasons. On a 0 degree day, on clean dry pavement take a set of average all seasons and accelerate hard away from a traffic light, then do the same with snows, the all seasons will spin more easily, than the snows. This is an easy way to demonstrate how the all seasons become hard in the cold and act more like a hockey puck thus giving you less grip.

Oh and another thing, having two sets of tires is actually just as cheap or even cheaper than one set. You're dividing the mileage you do on a set of tires in two. The mileage you do on your snows, prolongs your summers/all seasons, plus the salt will not tarnish your mag wheels! In the long run you save money and the look of your summer set up. The reason I say cheaper is because snow tires are typically cheaper than summer tires.

"Canadian winters" s an out of date term because we have what? maybe 5 days each winter now that you may need snow tires for.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigD

And like you said, there are maybe a few serious snow days in the GTA tops, and for all but the worst kind, the major roads are clear shortly after. Just drive carefully or worst case you can take a day off.

Quoted so that later in Jan/Feb we can recount the number of snow storms we had.

5 days of snow? Where were you last winter? Read the news they are saying this year will be worse with a lot of freeze/thaw cycles.

Quoted so that later in Jan/Feb we can recount the number of snow storms we had.

5 days of snow? Where were you last winter? Read the news they are saying this year will be worse with a lot of freeze/thaw cycles.

Im glad you have the free time to count how many snow falls we have. You want a calendar? I got a bunch in the mail. I have a nice one from the conservatives with a bunch of pictures of Steven Harper and his family. I quite like it. Then you can say "Hey! Yamahammer! we don't take kindly to your folk round here! we had 6 snowy days this year!"

I'm west of London... we had a thousand snowfalls, or so it seamed. E30s in the winter are fun and if you don't care about salt and rust then go for it! let's be clear on this an e30 isn't worth shit.... a mint example is what 6,000$???? this is not an outrageous amount of money and certainly not garage queen values. but to each his own... i used to store my e30... then i was like... why? its not a super rare example that needs to be saved... its a car that needs to be driven.

so is it ok do drive your 4,000$ car in winter? why the **** not?
is it a good idea not to use snows? no, but drive accordingly if you haven't got em.

and Yamahammer.... Stephen Harper's family is rented for photo ops and calenders, you know that right?

Im glad you have the free time to count how many snow falls we have. You want a calendar? I got a bunch in the mail. I have a nice one from the conservatives with a bunch of pictures of Steven Harper and his family. I quite like it. Then you can say "Hey! Yamahammer! we don't take kindly to your folk round here! we had 6 snowy days this year!"

Guys.. I will be wearing snows in the winter! Although I will be driving 3~4 times a week and less than 15km per day.. and I can always leave my car at home and take the TTC with the road is horrible(although when the road is horrible, taking the subway can be PITA). To make things better we have own carwash station right at the underground parking lot so e30 will be safe from the rust!

let's be clear on this an e30 isn't worth shit.... a mint example is what 6,000$???? this is not an outrageous amount of money and certainly not garage queen values.

If you like the car then it has value, the price of e30's could start rising soon I've been seeing a few warning signs with regards to availability and prices of various parts.

Value. It depends on how you define value. If you define it as the amount of money you can get for something then yes an e30 has less monetary value than a 2011 M5.

If we look at value from the perspective of what an object does versus how much it costs. Then the e30 still has good value. If I can drive to work every day, go get groceries, on the weekends drive out in the country and whatever... then the car fulfills it's purpose and has value.

One car costs 6000 and the other 120k+ ???

Keeping a car in a garage preserves it's function as a car. Not too many cars are investments, in fact no car YOU can afford is an investment so long as you use it. Once used the devaluation of even an m5 could buy you many e30's. The only exception is the really old car - where not too many examples are remaining.

Or instead of an M5 I could by 3 e30's and invest the rest in gold and actually make money instead of losing money on the m5 over the years.

Value is a subjective term, what it comes down to is if the item performs the task it was made to perform. If I have a car that looks the way I like and drives how I like... what do I care what people will say it's worth? It performs it's tasks and saves me money.

I don't care where you are; if you own an e30 invest in some "decent" winter tires. Not just any. I've had shitty winters on and got stuck everywhere. I have bought Pirelli or I-pikes or hakka -whatever they call em..are great for this model. With some driving skill and any of these 3 tires you are unstoppable in winter driving conditions. they are reasonably priced too. One snow storm is all you need and you're done for! Who gives a shit how many snow falls there were during the season. You don't need snow to potentially wipe the car out. It's called Black ice and called rubber traction. It is a fact that once the temp drops below 6 degrees the all season tire compound's effectiveness is drastically reduced to stop and control the car. the compound gets hard. Winter tire compounds are much softer and are designed with colder temp in mind. The stopping distance is much shorter as well in emergency situations.

so lets look at the economics of this: 4 tires pirelli - approx 500.00
upside: assurance, better control, not getting stuck, saving your nice rims from old man winter and salt.
Downside: is there only a couple besides the expense that you make that will last 4-5 seasons? divide this out 100.00 per winter
Storage space for the winter tires.

Upside to having no winter tires? hmm..perhaps the savings of +500?
downside: well extra storage space needed for summers.
cost of getting towed because of getting stuck -if you don't own RSA.
the wait time for getting stuck during bad weather. usually 1-2 hours if not more with RSA.
increased risk of getting into accident. loss of control -hitting something. potential cost of repair.
increase stress driving because the car isn't handling properly.
fear of going out during bad weather for risk of getting stuck.

Note: winter tires doesn't mean you are invisible..lol. just helps alot to have them.

it has been my experience that winter tires are superior to all season regardless what the tires says. They are meant only for light snow like we had this week. if you decide to drive with them you will have to remind yourself of winter driving skills and quite possible you could get away with the all seasons if the winter is mild. not to say you won't. :-)

As soon as I find place to store my euroweaves, I'll try to get set of used snows with bottlecaps or 14" steelies. Thanks.

DON'T buy used and cheap out to save a 100-200 bucks..if you do they should be almost new. the compounds do deteriorate like summers do over time if not stored properly. Unless you are familiar with brands, how to determine prod date on tires and know what signs to look for in years of wear and cracking. I would just go and spend the extra and get new. done deal.